KUCHING: The Sarawak Road Transport Department (JPJ) is keeping a good eye on eight road offences which have been identified as major contributors to road accidents.Its director Abdul Hamed Akob listed these offences as speeding, overtaking in double lines, cutting line, using handphones when driving, ignoring traffic lights, driving dangerously, failure to wear seat belts and failure to fasten helmets.
“Although not wearing seat belts and failure to fasten helmets do not lead directly to accidents, they do worsen the situation when accidents occur.
“Offenders will be compounded RM300 per case and we do not accept any appeal.
“This is for road safety purposes and we cannot take this matter lightly. For instance, we discovered that a lot of car drivers do not bother to use seat belts,” he said.
Hamed said this when giving a briefing at the ‘Sarawak Federal Agencies Monthly Assembly Ceremony’ yesterday. The event was held at Bangunan Sultan Iskandar here.
Federal secretary Mohd Yahaya Bisimin was among those present.
On tinted car screens, Hamed told those present that JPJ only allowed a maximum of 70 per cent transparency for the front screen and 50 per cent for the back.
Hamed also cautioned that JPJ would confiscate private vehicles with road tax which had already expired for 10 days, three days for motorcycles and one day for commercial vehicles.
“During our operations, we will confiscate these vehicles right away,” he cautioned.
For enquiries on summonses, payments and other matters, Hamed said members of the public could call JPJ’s Hotline 082-628900 from 7.30am to 5.30pm during office hours.
He said summonses which were settled within 15 days of its issuance would get a 30 per cent discount, while those settled within day 16 to 30 would only be granted a 15 per cent discount.
Touching on driving licences, Hamed said his department had limited the renewal of driving licence to five years, instead of 10 years previously.
“For those who have expired licences of less than three years, we will still allow them to renew. However, if it’s more than three years the driver will have to re-sit for the test,” he explained.